The
heat trough over WA moved slowly west today, allowing
northeasterlies to propel part of the hot airmass that has been
building in the state's
north over much of the southwestern third of the state. Only south
coastal areas escaped the unusual November heat. Morawa in the Central
West recorded a top of 42.6, nearly 12 above normal and the hottest
November day in the station's 38 year record. Farther north, Murchison,
with a shorter 13 year record, also scored its hottest November day
with a reading of 43.0.

Conditions in Perth were made more uncomfortable by smoke
haze from
hazard reduction burns ahead of the expected hot conditions. A bushfire
at in the Barton's Mills area near Karragullen, 25km SE of Perth
CBD, added to the smoke.

Widely
spread but isolated heavy rainfall again accompanied modest thunderstorms
in NSW today. Ballina Airport recorded 20.2mm in the hour to 2am,
while storms on the Central Tablelands gave Hampton 24 and Jooriland
in the Burragorang Valley 27mm between noon and 3pm. In Orange, drains
were blocked and some streets turned white with hail in a storm that
gave unofficial falls of 30mm in 2 hours to 3.30pm.

Records set
this day (previous record and years of computerised record shown in brackets):Highest daily maximum temperature for NovemberWestern
Australia:
006099 MURCHISON 43.0 (42.4, 13)
008093 MORAWA 42.6 (42.5, 38)

Quality
control note: Data is final. It includes late-received rainfall data and has been subject to BoM quality control checks.
Data is as received at 13:38EST, 03/03/2004.